


Trust and Doubt

by IrisButterfly



Series: Their First Meeting [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Confident Katsuki Yuuri, Gen, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Identity Reveal, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sassy Katsuki Yuuri, Secret Identity, Victor is Human... Or is he?, Yuuri is Hermes, Yuuri is Immortal, Yuuri is Yuuri but is not Yuuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-12-11 09:43:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11711805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrisButterfly/pseuds/IrisButterfly
Summary: Two decades ago, he saved Victor, and had been residing in the human realm ever since while hiding his identity as Hermes. When demons emerged in the human realm from a tear in gateway connecting the two worlds, the mystery behind his meeting with Victor and the connection between the two of them begin to unravel.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of "Demon within Me".

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He meets Victor, gets the name Yuuri, becomes a part of Katsuki family, and gets summoned by his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rewrite of the first chapter I've posted some days ago. I didn't like the flow of it when I reread it, so here's a new one.

He doesn’t know if he wanted to remember their initial meeting – a meeting with a human child named Victor that had pulled him into this realm.

He doesn’t regret their meeting, however unorthodox it was, per se, but even if he doesn’t want to remember its details, he does.

He met Victor several years ago when the human was six at the time.

The first scene he witnessed when he crossed to the human realm was a young child’s frightened expression while tied down on a table, and a group of madmen ready to eliminate that child with gleeful looks on their faces. He doesn’t remember how or why a group of madmen held this human child captive, most likely in a cage, amid other human children’s body parts littered around the room.

He, who doesn’t participate in human affairs, took pity on the child and decided to help.

It didn’t cross his mind at the time that he would have more paperwork to deal with in its aftermath, or that forcibly taking these human souls to Styx would have consequences.

It didn’t matter to him as he freed the young child from that table or when he demolished the building with acid rain.

It almost startled him the first time he heard the child spoke, “What’s your name? My name is Victor.”

He couldn’t tell Victor his real name – protocols and whatnot – so, he said, “Whatever you wish my name to be.”

The young Victor hummed thoughtfully with his lips in a pout, seemingly looking unaffected by the ordeal, and finally said, “Can I call you ‘Yuuri’ then?”

He raised a brow at the name, and replied with a, “If that is what you wish it to be.”

It wasn’t the first time a human gave him a different name.

****

The second time he intercepted with human affairs was on the second birthday of the Katsuki family’s youngest child. This child had unforeseen complications in the middle of the night unbeknownst to its family, and passed away.

He had been a reluctant guide of the young soul to Styx.

As he stared at the now-empty crib upon his return, he decided to use his powers and shapeshift to take the place of that child. His decision hadn’t been because he wanted to help the Katsuki family or to help fulfill the child’s unfulfilled dreams and wishes.

No, his decision was a selfish one – he wanted to see how Victor, who was the first human he saved after many centuries, was fairing.

Of course, he could easily find Victor with his powers but that wouldn’t be as fun. Besides, he doubted Victor would remember him since his powers cloaked his appearance from humans. He had been in his true form when he first entered the human realm.

He managed to _convince_ the Katsuki parents to name him ‘Yuuri’, considering it was the name he received in this realm.

He later found out Victor became a figure skater, so he became one as well.

He doesn’t like the fact that he, a deity, had to hold back a lot to compete on same levels as humans. Nevertheless, he managed because it provided him with amusement he wouldn’t gotten otherwise. Training was amusingly easy to say the least. He could land difficult jumps with inhuman grace, but he had to fumble since the character he created for Yuuri wasn’t good with jumps.

After several years of pretending to a human, he found life to be a bore. Many times, he found himself pondering if his decision was a mistake – for one, he couldn’t use his powers out in the open which meant he couldn’t complete his duties as a messenger and emissary of the deities whenever duties called. He had to complete them during nighttime as quickly as possible before his human family woke up.

It was thrilling, if he had to be forthright.

****

Between his 23rd and 24th year in the human realm, he somehow convinced Victor (the same human he rescued many years ago) to be his figure skating coach. He may or may have not used his powers during that infamous Sochi banquet after he drowned several flutes of champagne – and no, he wasn’t drunk. He couldn’t get drunk even if he wanted to.

It wasn’t in his constitution as a deity.

Now, ahead a major competition in Tokyo, he decided to abscond from the public practice. It was his fifth time to do so, and no one knew the first four times due to his powers. He didn’t have duties to accomplish like the first four times – no, this time, he left because of boredom.

He knew it would only be a matter of time before others caught onto his act and decided to follow him. He doesn’t mind if they followed him – in fact, he made it easy for them to tail him.

Yuuri smirked when he subtly looked behind him to see Victor, Phichit, and Yuri (whom everyone called Yurio) in very noticeable disguises trying to hide behind newspapers. He had a feeling this chase was Victor’s and Phichit’s ideas.

He paused momentarily as he debated if he should point out to Victor about that upside-down newspapers, but decided against it.

Instead of musing about it for some more, he ran a hand through his black hair and grabbed a skateboard he left leaning against the wall of a café. With an iced caramel macchiato in his hands, he placed his skateboard on the pavement and carefully weaved through thongs of people while he sipped on his drink.

He secretly pulled out his cellphone and took some photos of his three followers’ unsightly states for future blackmail materials. It had taken him some time to learn how to use this realm’s technologies (because the ones he used were far advanced), which was a reason why he rarely updated his social media page.

He abruptly stopped in the middle of the road, ignoring some angry adults, when his enhanced hearing captured the sounds of screeching tires coming from the south. He turned his attention to that direction with his eyes focused and zoomed in to the source of the sound. His eyes slightly widened in surprised when he realized it was a vehicle and its driver’s failed attempts to stop it due to its malfunctioned brakes.

Movements on his peripheral vision tore his attention from the car, and he noticed it was a young boy who was chasing after a rolling soccer ball onto the oncoming traffic.

“Naoya!” The boy’s mother frightened scream had stop the child, but in the middle of the road.

Yuuri turned his attention towards the young child, who managed to catch the runaway ball was standing in the middle of the road. His eyes met with the child’s momentarily as film tapes coiled around its owner’s small body – almost protectively – with its roll hovered above.

In his mind’s eyes, images of the child’s history flashed by at rapid speed, but it ended as quickly as it started. A number, 6, indicated the amount of time the child had left in this realm flashed repeatedly on top of the child’s head.

“We need to save that boy!”

Victor’s frantic exclaim snapped him out of his pensive moment from watching the child’s cinematic records – something he tended to do whenever he guided souls to Styx.

He couldn’t believe he was doing this again.

He couldn’t believe he was interfering with human affairs again.

With a click of his tongue, he unceremoniously shoved his skateboard and drink to a passerby nearby and ran towards the young boy. He ignored onlookers’ warnings and surprised exclaims – including the ones from Victor, Phichit, and Yurio (who all but yelled, “I can’t believe Katsudon is going to get himself killed!”) – and gathered the young boy (and that accursed soccer ball) in his arms.

It was difficult in the heat of the moment, but he had to ensure that he only used less than one percent of his actual speed.

He dodged the speeding vehicle by leaping high into the air a second before the collision, and glared at the car to forcibly stop it haphazardly in the middle of the road. Its driver scrambled out of the wrecked car, sobbing and blabbering words of apologies.  

When he gracefully landed on the ground, Yuuri immediately released the young boy, who scampered towards a frantic woman. She instantly bowed repeatedly and expressed various words of gratitude. He dismissed the words and blended in with the growing crowd to disappear from prying eyes. He doesn't want to answer questions or deal with human curiosities.

“I forget that human lives are fragile.” He whispered under his breath and stared at a gold band on his hand.

Which reminded him, he needed to figure out a way to break the news to Victor. As much as he cared about the silver-haired man, especially after years of observation and adoration, he wasn’t a human to begin with.

They were too different – one being a human and one being an immortal. Even if he could pretend to be a human for so long, he doesn’t want to base their relationship on deception (even he was known as a trickster among other deities). He doesn’t want to watch his partner grow old and ultimately die while he still looked to be in his twenties.

Besides, other deities at Mount Olympus wouldn’t accept his relationship with a mortal with open arms – they frowned upon romantic relationships with humans after what happened last time (there was a decade-long war) and forbid it.

A loud beeping noise interrupted his thoughts, and he almost groaned out loud when he saw a blinking red dot on his bracelet.

“Great… a meeting with father. What are the chances that he’ll forgive me for interfering with human affairs like he forgave me for what happened with Apollo’s cattle many centuries ago?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri gets called in for a family meeting, and gets grilled by his skating friends.

The meeting hadn’t been as bad as he thought it would be – granted, he received more work for his interferences but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. His stepmother also made him sit through an afternoon tea with his other siblings – an event he noticed she had taken a liking to after one of her visits in human realm.

To say it was a calm and mature affair would have been an understatement of eternity. Any meetings with his family would be anything _but_ calm.

His father, the King of Mount Olympus – Zeus, got into an argument (again) with Uncle Hades about things he doesn’t care to know, but got an earful of – something about his father consorting with one of Uncle Hades’ mistresses. His stepmother, Hera, nagged the two into oblivion about the two’s inability to keep their hands to themselves. He wouldn’t even try to explain about his family’s relationships to anyone – especially regarding his father’s womanizing ways that got him many siblings. It was too complicated for anyone to comprehend.

As much as he favored Apollo and Eros out of other relatives, he doesn’t like it when they teamed up to tease him relentlessly about his favoritism towards Victor – which was embarrassing especially with those teasing smirks they tossed at his direction.

“Hermes, do I need to shoot my arrows to your human? Do I need to give you tips on how to seduce a human? And Apollo, do you remember that time when Hermes asked me how to portray Eros for his skating program? I can't believe he asked me for that.”

He couldn’t believe Eros would still bring that up. He regretted his decision when he got a teasing smirk when he asked, and he still regretted it now when his nephew wedged it in every conversation. With a half-hearted sigh, he just gave a deadpanned look at Eros and retorted with a, “I don’t need tips. If I needed one, I would’ve asked my dad.”

“I heard my name. What are we talking about?” His father interjected – probably to breakaway from Hera’s lectures.

“Hermes is trying to seduce a human. The same human that he rescued two decades ago.” Apollo reported with a teasing smirk.

“I’m not trying to seduce anyone!”

“I don’t need Aphrodite’s eyes to tell me that you’re in denial, son. I can tell you have good taste like me. You could try turning into animals like I’ve done. Like, a beautiful swan or a majestic eagle or even a powerful bull.” His father replied with a playful grin. 

“No thank you! And what kind of helpful tips are those, father?”

“Or do you need me to give you a vial of aphrodisiac for your human?” He was more than ready to bolt out of the palace when Aphrodite asked him that.

Victor wasn’t his human… well, not really… but technically?

He just cared about Victor more than he should have… and somehow, everyone in his family knew it when he didn’t deliver that message to anyone at all.

He wished they would stop teasing him about it.

****

It was nighttime when he finally returned to the human realm after his meeting. Yuuri knew that the moment he stepped back into the hotel compound, Victor and his fellow skaters – specifically Phichit – would question him. He doesn’t need to use his powers to understand that – he knew they were curious, especially with that power display he did to save a kid from becoming a road pancake. He would be just as inquisitive if he was in their shoes too.

“Maybe I went overboard?” He pondered with a small thoughtful frown.

He normally wouldn’t have meddled with human affairs – he hasn’t since he took on the form of Yuuri Katsuki – but something in Victor’s tone when the Russian uttered those words urged him to comply. It was as if the two of them had formed a contract.

How curious.

He shook out of his musing when he arrived at his hotel room, and swallowed a sigh when his enhanced hearing picked up familiar voices. He briefly wondered if Victor decided to invite everyone because it certainly felt like the whole skating community elected to reside in his and Victor’s hotel room now.

“So, Yuuri. Mind telling us what was that all about?”

He hadn’t even taken a step into the room when his best friend uttered that question with a frown and an expectant look.

Well, from the looks of it from the doorway, it wasn’t the whole skating community – just Victor, Phichit, and Yurio. Then again, they could the whole skating community as far as his relations with them goes.

He blinked confusingly at Phichit, trying to look as if he doesn’t understand the meaning behind that question while his mind instantly comprehended the inquiry. It could mean a lot of things, really – as far as present events go, it could be his recent escape from public practice, the fact that he skateboards (not that this was important – which reminded him, he needed to purchase a new one), his rescue of that young child from a certain doom, the fact that he’s an immortal, or his meeting with his father and the rest of his family.

Not that he believed they knew about the latter two matters, so it couldn’t be that. But still, it could be a list of things and he wasn’t going to offer an explanation until he knew what the Thai skater meant.

“What was what all about?”

He gave an innocent smile while his eyes twinkled amusedly at Phichit’s unimpressed look. He supposed it would take a lot for his best friend to fall for this act.

“The fact that you ditched practice and sent us on a wild goose chase. Seriously, Yuuri? Ditching practice? I didn’t know you had courage to do it. You should’ve told me ahead of time so I could go with you! What kind of best friend are you to do this without consulting with me first?”

“That’s what you’re mad about?” Yurio interjected incredulously. “What is wrong with you? Your priorities are messed up!”

“And don’t think we haven’t forgotten about that little stunt you pulled when you rescued that boy.” Phichit continued as if there weren’t any interruptions. “How did you managed to do that? I – no, _we_ need explanations, Yuuri.’

“And skateboard? When did you learned to skateboard?” Victor chimed in with a confused frown.

“That isn’t important, old man! So, Katsudon skateboards. Big deal!”

The said person let out a dramatic yet a surprised gasp in response, and looked at the young Russian skater in a scandalous manner. “Yurio, that’s very important. It’s another part of Yuuri that I don’t know.”

“God, both of your priorities suck!”

Yuuri chuckled at the three’s interactions and decided to step in before further arguments arose, “I was bored with practice, and I wanted to walk around a bit. Which reminds me, you need to work on your shadowing skills. I hope you had fun trying to tail me because I certainly had, especially with the pictures I managed to get.”

He dismissed their gawking expressions, knowing that it wasn’t like his character as ‘Yuuri’ to say such things, but he doesn’t bother correcting his statement. He briefly wondered if his response counted as an explanation when he withheld so much information.

“You’re hiding something, Katsudon. Might as well tell us now and save yourself the trouble.” Yurio sneered in dissatisfaction.

“Now, Yurio –”

“That’s not my name, you bastard.”

Yuuri simply gave a playful smirk as if the young skater hadn’t interrupted him, “Now, Yurio. Where’s the fun if I just told you the answer?”

“Yuuri ~ As your coach and fiancé, I demand you tell us what you’re hiding posthaste.”

He flicked a glance towards Victor with a slight frown on his lips, and sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He ignored a small burning sensation he felt on his biceps as if it was from a seal to say, “You know, it’s unfair that you pulled this to get your answers.”

“Come on, Katsudon. Stop delaying and tell us already.”

“I will tell you if you can remember what happened when you were six, Victor.” Yuuri responded with his lips curled into a smirk.

“What kind of bullshit is that?” Yurio all but shouted with a huff and screamed at the ceiling exasperatedly.

No one uttered a word as the three looked at him like he was saying nonsense. He supposed if he was in their positions, he would think that as well. Nevertheless, Yuuri simply watched as Victor’s face contorted into a contemplative one with a thoughtful frown.

“From when I was six?”

He could simply tell them to make things easier, but it wouldn’t fun if he showed his cards at once. He knew he could trust them – at least he hoped he hadn’t misplaced his trust – but he doesn’t know if he could trust them with this secret.

“The answer you find then would explain everything.” Yuuri replied with a mysterious smirk, but paused in his speech when he noticed his blinking bracelet.

He blinked confusingly at its indication, inwardly pondering why other deities would call him when he just returned from meeting with them.

Nevertheless, he accepted the call with concern blanketing him, knowing that something must have occurred for them to call him just minutes after his departure, and waited with baited breath as he heard Artemis’s explanation in ancient divine language – a language they used so that humans wouldn’t be able to understand them.

_“Hermes, Uncle Hades noticed that the gateway of Tartarus had been destroyed. He and Aunt Persephone believed someone summoned a powerful Giant to cause havoc. Ares and the others are searching for it as we speak, but Apollo and I have reasons to believe that it is heading to human realm. Be alert – Uncle Hades said it has powers to shapeshift. Don’t engage it if you see it either, little brother, you’re not a fighter like us.”_

“Well, crap.” Yuuri grumbled under his breath. “And I can’t believe they’re still babying me. I might not be well-versed in fighting like Ares, but I can hold my own. Mostly.”

“Yuuri, you understood that? What language was it? I’ve never heard of it before.” Phichit interjected with brows furrowed contemplatively.

“If Victor can remember, I will tell you.” He answered in a distracted manner. A pensive look crossed on his expression as he mulled over the situation, and quietly murmured, “But what kind of idiot would summon a Giant when it snacks on humans? There’s a reason why Uncle Hades locked them in Tartarus. From what I recalled, certain conditions must be met to open Tartarus and consequently summon a Giant – especially one that can shapeshift.”

“What the hell are you muttering over there, Katsudon?” Stop tiptoeing around, and just freaking tell us and be done with it.”

Instead of giving a response to the question, a chilling shiver shot through his spine and he immediately turned to East with a startled look, and uttered, “It’s here.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri believes he can handle the fight by himself, but his siblings think he needs supervision.

“This is bad.” He whispered under his breath.

He exhaled deeply to calm his erratic heartbeats, and tried to figure how to deal with this situation. Thus far, the Giant was out of the summoning circle by only a quarter, so the damages were nonexistent; however, that would soon change if he doesn’t do anything. So far, the only available person to deal with this threat was him.

He looked over to the three skaters – humans – before him, and ran a hand through his hair while he contemplated his next move. As he does so, he expanded his senses to locate either Apollo or Artemis – neither was in this realm yet, and he knew it would take them some time since they couldn’t travel through different realms as fast as he could.

“What’s going on, Yuuri? You’re scaring us with that serious look.” Phichit questioned with a worried look.

He winced when his sharp hearing caught a bellowing roar, and immediately expanded his senses. Even though there weren’t any humans within the immediate radius of the Giant, he knew that everyone had heard the roar and it would only be a matter of time before someone tried to find the source.

“What’s with that roar? Where is it coming from?” Victor shot one question after another as he looked around the premise.

“I have to do something.” Yuuri muttered with an absolute resolute. He shifted his attention onto the three humans, and stated, “I’ll be right back.”

“Yuuri?” Phichit uttered quizzically with a frown and furrowed brows.

Without uttering another word, he left his hotel room and closed the door behind it. He unclasped a caduceus pendent from around his neck, and made a small cut on his finger, letting a drop of his blood drop on the floor. A magic circle materialized under his feet as soon as he murmured an incantation in ancient divine language, transmuting the blood drop into a mirror image of himself.

“Head back into the room in 5 minutes. Be like me, but not exactly like me as Hermes. Obviously, you can’t tell anyone that I’m Hermes, or say or do anything otherworldly. Do you understand? There’s a fine gray area in which you can operate.”

“In other words, be you as Yuuri the human. I know.”

“You got it.”

He then ran towards the source of the disturbance. Even if he wasn’t as powerful as his siblings, he was still a being with powers – as such, he had a duty to stop it especially when the disturbance was from his world.

He stopped in front of a pair of closed doors that lead to an ice rink – a place where the competition was going to be in a couple of days – and placed a hand on its handles. He momentarily closed his eyes in concentration to locate Apollo and Artemis – they were ten minutes away from this realm, but judging from the rift he sensed from within that room, he doesn’t have ten minutes.

“Oh joy, looks like it’s up to me.” Yuuri sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and made his appearance changed instantaneously.

His black hair transformed into a semi-long blonde hair that reached to the nape of his neck with its bangs falling over his reddish-brown eyes. A headband with a pair of wings adorned on his forehead and the caduceus staff in his hands revealed his identity as Hermes.

With a sharp intake, he opened the doors and inwardly flinched when his gaze landed on the Giant. It had a human head with a mob of green hair and green dragon-like legs. He inwardly sighed in relieve that it was just a regular Giant and not the one that could destroy an Olympian god – those were hard and annoying to defeat.

“This should be fun. Not. Let’s see what to do with you.”

He sighed while he twirled his staff and directed its head towards the Giant. With a flash of golden light, two snakes entwining around the staff became alive and enlarged itself before they lung towards their opponent.

While his snakes busied themselves with the Giant, Yuuri took off to the higher ground of the ice rink to look at the alchemy written on the summon circle. He needed to know what kind of spell summoned this Giant to send it back.

He looked at the summoning spell where the Giant was coming out of, and instantly knew the identity of it despite not being able to read the whole thing. His knowledge of alchemy was unparalleled to other deities.

He took a sharp intake and made another cut on his right finger. He then drew a magic circle in midair and began writing a spell around the circle with his blood. He almost finished completing the spell when the sounds of doors opening broke his concentration.

“What the hell is that?” Yurio exclaimed.

In the instance that he flicked a glance towards Yurio (and the other skaters, which happened to be the whole skating community, that came with the young Russian), the Giant overpowered his snakes and flung them aside. It then reached a hand towards the group of humans despite only having half of its body out of the summoning circle.

He immediately held up his caduceus to recall them to his staff, and then his right hand along it while concentrating on his powers. His caduceus staff transformed into a sword – it looked the same as his staff, but the wings were on the bottom near the hilt instead.

He flung the sword towards the Giant’s hand and ran towards the skaters, which looked like he teleported in front of them due to his speed.

“What in the world?”

“Who are you?”

He flicked an annoyed glance towards his mirror image, who shrugged helplessly in response, and inwardly sighed before he redirected his attention towards the Giant, who was bellowing at the amputated arm. He winced the loud noise and the impending headache due to his enhanced hearing, but a rift in dimension caught his attention.

He immediately knew who was emerging from it due to the spell written around the magic circle. His siblings – Apollo and Artemis. The two were in modern attires, but the only differentiation of their deity-status were the intricate sun ornate on Apollo’s head, and intricate moon ornate in Artemis’s hair.

“We’ll handle this, Hermes.” Apollo said in a calm tone while he ran a hand through his blond hair.

He looked towards his older brother, and gave a sheepish smile at the steely amber eyes directed at him. The semi-formal outfit and the trench coat blowing in invisible air made Apollo’s figure more imposing than he would’ve liked to admit. He looked at Artemis, who wore a light blue long sleeved mini dress, and looked just as serious and imposing as her twin.

“You two are late. I would’ve finished writing the spell if these humans hadn’t interrupted me.” He complained with an exaggerated eyeroll.

“We all can’t be as fast as you, little brother.” Artemis replied coolly.

“We know you can you handle it by yourself, but you’re still a hatchling compared to me, so you need adult supervision.” Apollo added with a cheeky smirk.

“I don’t need adult supervision! I’m not a child, Apollo!” Yuuri retorted indigently with a huff.

“Call me ‘Onii-chan’.”

He looked over to Artemis, who rolled her eyes at her twin’s antics and explained, “He’s been keeping an eye on you since you took residence in Japan. It’s an unfortunate side-effect that he’s into Japanese culture and such. He tried to make me call him that too.”

“Let’s just handle this intruder first.” Yuuri sighed as he made another cut on his finger.

Wordlessly, he drew a magic circle and wrote the spell once more while his siblings immobilized the Giant. The battle was as swift as he imagined, and it was over just as he finished writing the last word of the spell to send the Giant back to Tartarus.

He summoned his caduceus back and pointed it towards the magic circle, which glowed in golden light with his concentration. He watched as it blanketed over the Giant’s struggling figure and overwrote the summoning spell.

His spell glowed once more before a dimensional portal opened and swallowed the roaring Giant, sending it back to Tartarus for Uncle Hades to handle. The magic circle blinked once more before it completely disappeared.

“See? I can handle it myself.” He huffed towards his older brother.

Apollo simply laughed and ruffled his hair with an unconvinced look, “That’s because we’re supervising you. I still don’t trust you to be in a battle by yourself. You’re too young. And call me ‘Onii-chan’. Doesn’t that what Japanese people call their older brothers?”

“I’m not calling you ‘Onii-chan’.” Yuuri replied in a deadpanned tone.

“While that is amusing, we still need to figure out who summoned the Giant.” Artemis interjected with a serious look towards the two.

“And give a suitable punishment to that person.” Apollo added just as seriously. He looked over to his younger brother to say, “I’m presuming you already know who that is, Hermes? You are the one who deals with dimension travel among us.”

Yuuri sighed as he massaged his temple, and looked over to the group of skaters. He then uttered in a serious tone, “Georgi Popovich, if I may have a word with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is nothing against Georgi, but he just seemed like the person to use magic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri issues his punishment, much to the skaters' chagrin.

Yuuri watched in amusement when he saw Victor and Yurio stand in front of Georgi, seemingly trying to protect their rink mate from him and his siblings. The other skaters looked confused by their actions, but followed their examples due to the serious expressions on the two Russians’ face. He knew they don’t understand the seriousness of Georgi’s action – heck, if he wasn’t who he was, he would try to protect the Russian skater alongside them.

Still, it was amusing to see that they believed such actions would stop him or his siblings. If he really wanted to, he could have bypass their barriers effortlessly.

“Why do you need Georgi?” Victor questioned seriously with a somber look.

“Who do you think you are to demand him?” Yurio added with a glare.

He glanced over to Apollo and Artemis to see if they were willing to take over the conversation in his stead, but the twins merely gave a look that told him to handle it himself. He supposed they were right in a way, considering this whole realm transgression fell under his authority. He was the only deity in Mount Olympus that can freely go to any realm without an invite.

He took a deep breath with his eyes closed momentarily and reopened them, instantly taking on his deity personality. He couldn’t talk to them as Yuuri Katsuki, their friend – no, he needed to deal this situation as Hermes.

“To put it simply, he is the one who summoned the Giant you saw earlier. This destroyed the gateway of Tartarus, which locked other Giants, Titans, and other beings from emerging into your world. Additionally, it would’ve been catastrophic if the Giant – not only this one, but others as well – was able to emerge fully from the summoning circle. He could’ve annihilated the whole humanity with that act. Now then, do you understand the consequences of your action, Georgi Popovich?”

“I – I – I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to… I heard that Anya was going to marry another man, and I just wanted to make her like me again. I saw a spell in the book that could do that for me, so I tried to follow its instruction.”

As much as he felt for Georgi and the Russian’s disheartening relationship endeavors, Yuuri inwardly sighed and schooled his face so nothing showed on his expression. He understood Georgi’s stance and wanted to forgive the man, but nothing was ever that simple.

“You could transfigure him into a turtle. I remembered you did that to a stubborn nymph before.” Apollo quipped with a smirk.

“Deal with him as you please.” Artemis interjected as she tossed a lock of hair over her shoulders. “I’m going to help Ares and others with damage control in our realms. Apollo, are you coming?”

“I’m going to stay here for a little longer. I have some persuasions to do with our cute Hermes. Call me if you need my help, Artemis.”

The Moon deity simply nodded in response, and flicked a glance towards his direction. Yuuri twirled his caduceus staff and pointed it to an empty space, making a magic circle with his caduceus image materialized in its space.

“Thanks, Hermes.” Artemis gave her gratitude with another nod, and walked into the portal, which promptly closed after her.

“So, a turtle? I don’t mind having a pet turtle.” Apollo prompted with a snicker and an arm on his shoulder.

“You are NOT turning him into a turtle!”

His gaze landed to the speaker, Mila, and noticed that her along with other skaters were looking at him with a firm stubborn stance. His eyes landed on his mirror image, who was standing next to Victor, and a noticeable devious smirk appeared on his face.

He just found a perfect way to nullify his mirror image without arousing any suspicion, and deal with this punishment at the same time.

“It’s not negotiable, humans.” He replied coolly as he lazily twirled his staff. “Did you really believe that there won’t be consequences for giving us so much trouble? If you won’t take responsibility for your actions, then I don’t mind delegating that to another. Like that black-haired man in glasses, for instance.”

“No, you can’t do that to our Yuuri.”

He gave a pointed look at Victor’s and Phichit’s immediate protests, and retorted with a, “I didn’t say we could negotiate the terms, did I?”

“But nothing happened! Why are you being so unreasonable?” Phichit continued while holding onto his mirror image.

Yuuri inwardly heaved a sigh, understanding Phichit’s perspective but there were rules he needed to follow. As much as he wanted to forgive Georgi, he couldn’t… if he doesn’t apply some sort of punishment, another deity would do it in his stead. He highly doubted they would be as merciful as him.

His older brother sent a sharp look at the skaters, and said, “The only reason nothing happened was because we noticed the disturbance before anything _could_ happen. Hermes was able to get here first to make sure _nothing_ happened.”

“Now either come with me or I _will_ turn everyone into animals for eternity.” He directed his glare towards his mirror image, who convincingly flinched but approached him amid others’ protests nevertheless. He flicked a glance towards the group, and remarked, “If he behaves, I will return him by the end of the week.”

“Hermes, I never thought you’d be so cruel to them.” Apollo commented with an amused look.

He simply gave a piercing look towards his brother, and grumbled, “Come on, Onii-chan, we have work to do. And you, human, come along.”

Apollo let out a dramatic gasp in awe, and then cooed, “Aww, baby brother, you finally called me ‘Onii-chan’. I should mark this day and make it a national holiday!”

“My name is Yuuri. Please don’t call me ‘human’.” His mirror image protested.

“Do I look like I care?” He ignored his dramatic older brother and directed that remark to his ‘hostage’, and waved his staff once more to open a portal. “Let’s go.”

He watched as Apollo dragged his mirror image into the portal, and waited until the two had disappeared fully to direct his speech to the stunned group. “Let this be a lesson to you. Next time you do something like again, I won’t be so forgiving. If it’s not me, then someone in my family will go after you. I assure you, they won't be as merciful as I had been."

He didn’t wait to hear what they had to say and disappeared into the portal. He didn’t want to be cruel to his fellow skaters and friends, but he had to be.

****

“Now that that’s done with, we need to deal with the aftermath.” Apollo sighed with a grim look. He ran a hand through his hair, and spoke, “Ares and Athena mentioned that there are some Titans and Giants that required demigods’ assistance to defeat. That's going to be a pain since we need to locate the demigods first.”

Yuuri exhaled tiredly as he massaged his temple, and snapped his fingers to make his mirror image disappear.

The only thing he could say in this situation was, “Oh, Georgi, what have you done?”

“Why don’t you go help Uncle Hades with the formation of new gates? You’re more knowledgeable in that area than anyone.” His brother suggested while he summoned his bow and arrows. “I’ll go assist others in their battles.”

“Alright.”

“And call me ‘Onii-chan’ again. It’ll energize me for the battles.”

He gave an unconvinced look at Apollo’s eager expressions, and said, “No way. I’ll see you later, Apollo,” in a flat tone.

He left as quickly as he could because he doesn't want to see that kicked puppy-dog look on his brother's face. 

****

Yuuri stepped out of the portal in an alley way next to the hotel he and the other skaters were staying for the competition. Not that there would be any competition now since the Giant’s arrival had ruined the ice rink. Besides, he doesn’t have any energies or willpower to do any skating considering the things he had to deal with in the Underworld with Uncle Hades in forming a new gate.

His eyes passed over the date written on one of the clocks in the lobby, and realized that it had been two weeks since his ‘disappearance’. He knew that time passed by differently in the Underworld and the human realm, but he never would have thought that what seemed to be a month was merely two weeks.

“Yuuri~ You’re alright!”

That remark was the only warning he received before he felt Victor’s hug and nuzzle.

“Of course, I am. Why wouldn’t I be?” He replied as he tried to escape from the overly affectionate Russian’s grasp when he noticed other skaters approaching the two of them.

As much as he understood Victor’s worries, he doesn’t want to be manhandled when his energy level was extremely low. It was taking nearly everything he had to maintain his human disguise. He knew that he should stay a few extra days to regain his energy, but he realized that Victor and Phichit (and perhaps, other skaters as well) would worry since he didn’t return on the promised day.

“You were gone longer than promised, Yuuri. Did he do anything to you?” Phichit asked worriedly and looked over his body to see if he had any injuries.

Of course, he wouldn’t have any injuries – at least the physical ones – Apollo healed him (twice, just for a good measure) before he departed into this realm. The only thing that Apollo’s healing wouldn’t work was to restore his magic energy, which he used a lot in his fight against escapees in the Underworld, and in forming a new gate. Even if he had Uncle Hades' help, he still had to deal with hundreds of demons and other magical beings that wanted to escape to the human realm by himself. It was a stress reliever in the first five times, but it got annoying quickly. 

“No, it was more of a house arrest than anything else.” Yuuri lied with a tentative smile. “Sorry to worry you.”

“No, it was completely my fault.” Georgi wailed with tears ruining his eye makeup. “If I hadn’t done that, you wouldn’t have had to suffer.”

He simply gave a tight smile in response, and said, “I’m glad you understand, Georgi. I know that the ISU cancelled the competition, so if there’s nothing else, I’d like to go rest now. It’s been a long journey.”

“Katsudon, you’re different.”

"Yes, Yuuri. Something about you had changed." Victor added with a small frown. 

He simply gave them a mysterious smirk and asked, “Maybe. If Victor could remember what happened when he was six, I'd tell you. Besides, how much do you trust me? How much do you doubt me? Ponder on that in the meantime, will you?” as he headed to the lift.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seung Gil, the detective, easily unravels the mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited the story summary.

Even after two days of his supposed return, Yuuri doesn’t know what to make of the current situation.

On one hand, he just wanted to tell his friends about his real identity, but he was afraid of their reactions… especially with the way he interacted them some days ago as Hermes. Everything would be easier if he just told them – he wouldn’t need to go around or behind them to do his duties. Not that he needed to when he could easily create a duplicate of himself with his powers, but it doesn’t feel the same and he felt he was deceiving them.

On the other hand, he doesn’t want them to know and to expose them to everything he had to deal with. Even though he doesn’t want to label them as fragile, they were vulnerable as humans when considering he dealt with supernatural phenomenon. There were beings who liked toying with humans, and there were beings who snacked on humans. Yet, he knew he couldn’t continually encase them in a protective bubble because he knew firsthand that they weren’t weak and they wouldn’t appreciate his gesture at all.

Moreover, he wanted them to mull over their answers to the questions he posed. He wanted them to question just how much they knew of him, and if they trust him with mere information they have of him. Considering his ‘strange’ behaviors and remarks, he needed to know if they still trust him before he gave them any sort of explanation.

Things would be simplier if Victor remembered that fateful day.

“You’re the one who summoned me here. How can you forget it?” Yuuri murmured under his breath with a shake of his head. “Makes me wonder why I’m still here when I’ve already fulfilled my duties.”

“Yuuri~ Why are you by yourself here?”

He looked over his shoulders to see Victor was looking at him curiously. Standing behind the silver-haired man were Yurio, Phichit, and Seung Gil. He supposed they wanted to know about the questions he posed, and any information related to it… even if the Korean skater looked disinterested altogether.

Instead of giving a response to the question, he asked one of his own, “I want to know, do you remember at all, Victor?”

He watched as a serious looked appeared on the older Russian’s face, and patiently waited for a response since the conversation henceforth depended on Victor’s answer. He wouldn't mind revealing his identity if the answer was a positive. 

“You mean what happened when I was six? I died then, didn’t I?”

“What the hell? That doesn’t make any sense.” Yurio interjected with his brows furrowed.

“If Victor died then how is he here? Don’t tell me we’ve been talking to a ghost all along.” Phichit added with a flabbergasted expression.

“I remembered being unable to escape from my captivity, and my kidnappers came at me with a chainsaw. I believe they kidnapped children to sell their organs on black market. I’m not really sure. But I saw a lot of other children when I was there.” Victor continued hollowly with his tale as if he hadn’t heard their comments. “The next I know, I was standing outside the building – it was raining heavily, and somehow the building eroded in the rain.”

“Victor, you’re not making any sense.” Yurio remarked seriously with a frown. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head somewhere? What you’re saying sounded like Katsudon appeared out of nowhere.”

“It sounded farfetched too – especially the part where a building eroded in the rain. Then again, I’m not sure if that’s true or not considering we’ve seen deities and an otherworldly monster.” Seung Gil quipped.

Yuuri hummed to indicate that he was listening and stared at the group wordlessly. He doesn’t know what to make of the situation, considering all these times he spent trying to drop hints to Victor when the said human remembered the incident. He felt silly.

“So, you remembered.” He spoke in a calm tone, making sure to not portray his actual feelings on the matter.

“Katsudon, you said you’d tell us what you’re hiding if the old man remembered. So, tell us.” Yurio prompted with a stern look. “Don’t tell me you’re going back on your word.”

“Actually, Yuuri Katsuki, maybe you can explain about what Victor Nikiforov said first. How is it possible for him to die and then come back alive? Is there a fountain of youth or an immortality ability that you’re not sharing with us?” Seung Gil interrupted with curiosity laced in his flat tone.

Victor glanced over to him to say, “I wasn’t sure if you were the same person because you looked so different. These events in the past few weeks made me realize that you were the same person. That’s why I never got to thank you for what you’ve done. For the second chance at life you’ve given me, I mean.”

Yuuri simply nodded in response before he turned his attention to Seung Gil’s inquiries, “The only immortality ability, as you called it, is the alchemy I used to bring back his soul.”

“Alchemy? What in the world are you saying, Yuuri?” Phichit asked with his brows furrowed in confusion.

“It sounds so surreal. I feel like you’re fabricating this, Yuuri Katsuki.”

“Wait a damn minute. Aren’t we forgetting one crucial detail?” Yurio interjected with his look mirroring the Thai skater. “How the hell was Katsudon able to meet the old man way back then? If I remembered correctly, Katsudon is four years younger than Victor. He would’ve been a two-year-old.”

An amused smile appeared on his face as he watched them try to figure out how it was possible for him to meet and save Victor at that ‘young age’. It would’ve been impossible and unthinkable if he was human. It made him wonder just how long it would take them to figure out his identity with the clues he dropped.

“That would’ve been impossible!” Phichit exclaimed with a frown until his visage changed into one of realization. “Unless…”

“Unless Yuuri Katsuki himself has some sort of supernatural ability.” Seung Gil concluded in a flat tone, sounding like a detective. “I don’t think that’s implausible given what he mentioned earlier with alchemy. The only question that remains is, how.”

“Oi, old man, you knew about this, don’t you?”

“I had a feeling, but I wasn’t quite sure if I was right or not. That is, until a couple of days ago.” Victor replied while he ran a hand through his hair.

“Are you going to share that information with the rest of us?” Phichit raised an eyebrow and waited expectantly.

Yuuri simply listened to the conversation silently, fascinated by their deduction based on the clues and hints he dropped. He couldn’t believe that Victor didn’t know until he returned from the Underworld – he supposed it was because of his inability to conjure a perfect disguise due to his low energy level.

“Can I, Yuuri?”

“Do as you like.” He gave a shrug since it didn’t matter to him if they knew. It seemed like they would know if they pondered on the subject some more. “Just know that I won’t be able to revive you if you died the second time.”

“Wait a minute.” Victor looked at him alarmingly with a puzzled look. “What are you saying, Yuuri? The way you’re saying sounded like I would forfeit my life easily. I won’t, you know.”

“Can you two stops speaking in riddles and get on with the damn explanation?” Yurio interjected with a huff.

“An alchemy usually requires an equivalent exchange, Victor. You died that night of November 7th – their attack cut open your body, and that damaged most of your organs. I would’ve taken your soul to Styx but you called out to me before you died, begging me to save you. So, I did – the only reason you’re alive now is because of my blood.”

“We did a blood transfusion?” Victor questioned blinkingly.

“I healed your wounds with my blood and my powers. You technically belong to me, Victor.” Yuuri answered coolly with a sly smirk. “I’ve let you live freely for the past 28 years without having to worry about repaying me. Starting now, you will be working for me to repay my deed.”

“That sounds so kinky, Yuuri.” His best friend commented with a snicker, and then added, “What you said made it sound like you’re a god of some sort.”

“Technically, you aren’t wrong, Phichit. You’ve already met me previously.”

“Hold on a second. If you’ve healed me with your blood and powers, does that mean I have powers of my own?” Victor asked with his eyes widened in marvel.

Yuuri resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the question, and replied with a, “Of course not. The only god-like power you possess is athleticism, and no, you don’t have immortality.”

He inwardly exhaled at Victor’s whine and pout about not having ‘cooler’ ability than athleticism. There was no way he would give his alchemy ability or his shadier skills (like thievery and lock-pick ability) to then six-year-old Victor. That would be inviting trouble.

“You can’t be Apollo since the way you behave doesn’t match with what we’ve seen from him. I don’t think you’re Artemis either… unless you’re secretly a girl, and we didn’t know. Besides, what you said about athleticism means you're... Hermes. Am I right, Yuuri Katsuki?” Seung Gil blurted out.

“He’s right, isn’t he, Katsudon? Everything you said and have done points to that.” Yurio added with his arms crossed. “Why do you need old man, anyways?”

“He’s going to help me clean up the mess Georgi left behind.” Yuuri replied, neither confirming or disconfirming about his identity.

“Speaking of Georgi, I don’t like the way you handled that.” Victor stated with a frown. “You could’ve been nicer about it.”

“His summoning tore the gateway that sealed the demons in the Underworld. Lord Hades and I managed to reseal the gateway, but while we were doing so, some managed to escape here. Normally, I could defeat them on my own, but I fear that some may be more difficult and require an assistance of a demigod.”

Confused exclaims rang through the room, and Phichit voiced out, “I don’t understand what you mean, Yuuri.”

“I’m not a demigod, though.”

“You have my blood coursing through you, which means you are now a demigod, Victor. Specifically, mine.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor's training as a demigod begins. Phichit and Yuri decided to tag along to see what's the fuss about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a while. Life has been hectic.
> 
> I saw Yuri on Stage, and it made me become addicted to Your Only Live Once again.

Yuuri stared at Victor’s excited expression as if the whole world opened with new possibilities. In a strange sense, Victor wasn’t wrong with that line of thought because if he was human and a deity just told him that he was now a demigod, he would be imagining about possibilities of new powers in his disposal. Then again, he told Victor that the only power the Russian had was athleticism, which doesn’t seem that impressive compared to his other powers. Not that he could tell Victor that without making the older man depressed – besides, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t forge weaponries with his alchemy for Victor to use.

Additionally, Yuuri knew that Victor would be a force to reckon with some trainings, but the main questioned remained – can the skating legend handle the training he had in mind? One thing he knew with certainty was that the type of training he and others undergone for war preparations greatly differed from any types that humans do. It was also a reason why his stamina differed from his skating competitors.

After all, he and the others had Ares and Athena as their teachers, and to say it was hellishly brutal was an understatement. Yet, as a result, each deity ended up being physically and mentally powerful to engage in a war and win. Even if some of them utterly disliked strategizing, everyone could do almost as well as Athena… not that she would admit a couple of them ended up being near her level.

“So, Yuuri… when are you going to teach me what I can do as a demigod?” Victor asked with a small thoughtful frown.

“I will need to test you to see what you can do first, Victor.” He answered as if it was obvious. "We are going to a batting cage tomorrow to test your reaction, as well as your hand-eye coordination. Depending on how well you do, I’ll come up with a training schedule for you. If this is too difficult for you, I will lower the difficulty – but if all else fails, I will denounce you as my demigod.”

“Wait, what? Isn’t that too cruel for Victor?” Phichit interjected with a displeased look. “You can’t just say that he’s your demigod and then reject him if he doesn’t perform to your satisfaction. He’s not a toy you can just toss aside.”

He flicked his gaze over to his best friend, and replied with a, “No, but it is better than bringing him to a battlefield and casting him to enemies when I know that he can’t perform well. I may be able to give him weaponries to protect himself, but everything can happen in a blink of an eye in a battlefield – especially when his future opponents would be those locked up in Underworld. That means, they have powers and most of their diet happened to be humans. If he can’t react fast enough, he’d hurt him or worse – die.”

“But you’ve brought him back to life before. Can’t you do that again?” Phichit asked with a raised brow.

He resisted the urge to scoff at the remark since that would be too rude and it wouldn’t be in his character to do such thing. Instead, he responded calmly with a, “Just because I have done something like that once doesn’t mean I could do it repeatedly. I pulled a lot of strings when I did it the first time.”

“Isn’t that just an excuse for you?” Yuri retaliated with a scowl on his expression.

This time, Yuuri didn’t bother hiding his disdain as he flicked his gaze towards the younger Russian, and stated, “You don’t withhold the ability to bring back someone back to life. I’d appreciate it if you don’t judge me for something _I_ can do. There are rules and protocols that I need to follow. I’ll see you tomorrow at the batting cage at 8 o’clock sharp, Victor.”

*****

Yuuri twirled his staff lazily as he waited for Victor and the others to arrive. He arrived earlier than the mentioned time because he wanted to set-up, but it turned out that he didn’t need to anything other than pay the personnel some money. Even if he could add some new ‘things’ for the test, he wanted to issue the test without additional embellishments. Besides, he could use the time to practice; however, he knew he would wreck the place if he accidentally used his full powers.

With a soft sigh, he focused his energies and shrunk down his staff, which he clipped back on his necklace. He knew he was harsh with the others yesterday, even if it wasn’t his intention to show his Hermes persona to his skating friends. However, he wanted to get his point across to them – that being in a battlefield wasn’t as easy as he and the others made it seemed to be, especially for humans and a demigod who was still learning the ropes.

Additionally, just because he brought back Victor to life once does not mean that he could do it freely when he had to consider what Uncle Hades might do as repercussion. The first time was already harsh – he had to spend many months ferrying souls to Styx on top of his other duties.

While it may have been amusing to his siblings, which he agreed with them to some degree because he had to wear a uniform that Uncle Hades gave (a black robe that was a size too big for him), he doesn’t want a repeat of this incident at all. They already took plenty of pictures as blackmail that could last a century, and he doesn’t want to give them materials that could last another century.

“Sorry, we’re late.” He snapped out of his musing when he heard Victor’s voice.

When he looked over to the older Russian’s direction, he saw Phichit and Yuri following closely behind. He raised a quizzical brow at the other two’s presences, but chose not to question it. If they wanted to participate, they could – he just doesn’t know if they could follow it as well as they believed they could. After all, he wasn’t going to be in his Yuuri persona for this session.

“Punctuality is key, especially in battlefield. People could die because you’re late. Since this is your first time, I’ll forgive you – just don’t let it happen next time.” He lectured with a huff.

“You know, Yuuri, you’re being awfully rude.” Phichit huffed with a disapproved look.

He flicked a glance over to his best friend with a frown on his lips, and said, “I’m sorry if you think that, but you’re entering my world… which means, you will be playing by my rules. Even if we are friends, I cannot go easy on you – no one will go easy on battlefields. Now then, are we ready to begin?”

“So, what are we doing?” Victor’s question broke the tension in the room.

Yuuri resisted the urge to grin sadistically as he looked over to the three skaters, and hid it behind a cough to clear his throat. “Before we begin with any training, I will need to test your reaction speed. So, you will be dodging those incoming baseballs as agilely and gracefully as you can. We’ll start at a low speed with 20 balls first. Of course, as with any training courses, there will be punishment if you failed.”

“Punishment? What kind of punishment are we talking about, Yuuri?” Victor gulped nervously with a worried look.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He gave a mischievous smirk in return and inwardly chuckled at the other male’s flushed expression. He schooled his expression into a serious one before he continued with his speech, “You’ll be doing this until you could dodge without taking a hit.”

“But that’s impossible!”

He flicked a glance over to Phichit and then to Victor’s startled look at his instruction. From their perspective, his directive seemed impossible, but he was going somewhere with this. Not that they would be able to tell now, and it seemed he would need to spell it out for them.

“You will do it, if you want to live. You’re going to be dealing with otherworldly beings, Victor, and there was no way they’re going to stop in the middle of battlefield just because you said so. As I’ve said before, you have the option of opting out being my demigod if you can’t handle the workload. I won’t be offended.”

“Shouldn’t you show us an example first, Katsudon?”

Yuuri chuckled at the request as if it amused him, and dismissed their confused expression to say, “Well, what do you want to see? I could show you my speed, but you wouldn’t be able to see it – after all, I am someone who could travel from Mount Olympus to the Underworld within a couple of seconds. I could also show you my battle prowess and what I’m capable of, but I’m afraid I’ll end up obliterating this place.”

“You know what, why don’t we just begin? You can tell us where we are doing wrong, won’t you, Yuuri?” Victor interjected with an awkward look.

“I won’t hold your hands, if that’s what you’re asking. You’ll have to figure out your mistakes for yourself.” He answered offhandedly as if he didn’t notice their looks of disbelief. “This is simply training – no one will kill you here if you made a mistake. However, it won’t be so forgiving out there when you’re battling Giants and other beings from the Underworld.”

“I don’t like your hands-off approach, Yuuri.” Phichit remarked with a frown. “Shouldn’t you prepare us as much as you can before our first real battle?”

“I’m sorry if I sound rude, but do you truly believe I have that much time on my hands to hold your hands, Phichit?” He retaliated bewilderingly without any heat in his tone. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a messenger deity – I may not be at vanguard during battles, but as a messenger deity, I’m the busiest one out of everyone. After all, I’m the only one who could travel to different dimensions without any repercussions.”

“If you’re not at the frontline then, why the hell are we training Victor for? It doesn’t seem like he’s going to be fighting.”

He couldn’t help but mentally applaud at the young Russian’s line of thought since Yuri wasn’t entirely wrong, given what he just mentioned. Still, they missed an important point which he decided to reveal, “He won’t be, if I could help it. Even with my crash course training, Victor won’t be ready for a real battle… at least, not this one. However, he has my blood coursing through him, and this makes him vulnerable to attacks from some of our enemies who utterly loath Olympian Gods. That’s why he needs to learn some form of self-defense. Now then, are we done?”

“Fine, fine. Let’s get started then.” Yuri grumbled with a scowl and arms crossed.

Yuuri resisted the urge to grin sadistically as he snapped his fingers, starting the ball machines without any warnings, and instantly disappeared from the three skaters’ sights. He watched almost amusedly as they scrambled out of the incoming baseballs as best as they could – it was quite a sight to see the graceful figure skaters being as clumsy as a newborn fawn.

“I have a battle to get to now, so I hope you’ll be able to dodge at least half by the time I return.”

“You can’t just leave us, Yuuri!”

“If you’ll excuse me.”

“YUURI!”


End file.
